1 SAMUEL : Eli was the main priest. Samuel was born to Hannah, a
barren woman, after she prayed to God and Eli also asked God to
help her. Samuel was dedicated, by his mother, to God. At one
point, the Ark of God was taken by the Philistines, causing their
idol Dagon to fall and be disgraced (1 Samuel 5). Samuel became
judge of Israel (1 Samuel 7) when Israel defeated the Philistines
at Mizpah, at a place that Samuel named Ebenezer (meaning
"the Stone of Help"). The people insisted on having a
king. Samuel finally picked Saul, the tallest man (1 Samuel 9:2),
who was made king at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11:15). Saul made a mistake
of personally making a burnt offering instead of letting Samuel
do it, thus requiring his dynasty to end (1 Samuel 13:9; 12-14).
DAVID AND GOLIATH (1 Samuel 16, 17):
A young shepherd, David, was brave, strong, and favored with the Lord.
David played the harp for king Saul when Saul had the "Spirit from the
Lord" tormenting him. Goliath was a champion of the Philistines,
a giant over nine feet tall. Goliath challenged for the battle of the Philistines
and Hebrews to be a single combat of one Israelite and him. David accepted the
challenge and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone thrown to Goliath's head.
(1 Samuel 17:48-51).
David became well known and was honored with a song (1 Samuel
18:7), "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of
thousands," which made king Saul very angry. David became a
"blood brother" to Jonathan, king Saul's son, and
married Michal, king Saul's daughter. Saul decided to kill David
and pursued him over the land. Twice (1 Samuel 24; 1 Samuel 26),
David spared Saul, when David could have easily killed him. Saul
consulted a medium at Endor (1 Samuel 28). On Mt. Gilboa, Saul
was wounded by the Philistines. Saul killed himself and was
cremated. (1 Samuel 31:12).